Brothers in code
by Yuuzhan Vong Jedi
Summary: Rated PG for violence, and not much else. The story is about Neo finding out he has a brother whom the Agents are using to try to get at him. But they forgot something. The Andersons aren't traitors.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I did not and could not have come up with the idea of the Matrix, Neo, Trinity, Tank, their ship, or Zion. I did make up Neo's family (as far as I know, anyway. If I'm wrong let me know) and I'm pretty sure I came up with the idea of using a human as a basis for an Agent program. Oh yeah, I don't own Agents either. If I have forgotten to give due credit to anything in the original movie, or if I have copied anyone else's ideas without realizing it, my most humble apologies. Besides, I'm a college student; I have no money, so there's no point in suing me.  
  
Version 1.0 The original  
  
Version 1.1 Changed a few things, corrected a few mistakes and added another chapter. Kudos for me.  
  
Version 1.2 Changed a few more things the (hopefully) make it make more sense. Word to my homies and the dogs to whom they fall upon.  
  
Prologue  
  
What am I?  
  
New information coming on-line. Waiting.  
  
I am unit D1. I am to be a sentient program. I have been created for the purpose of aiding the Agents in defending the Matrix from rebels. I am to be updated with human thought patterns. It is hoped that these patterns well enable me to defeat the human rebel known as "The One".  
  
Human mind pattern download in progress. Beginning integration sequence.  
  
Processing new data.  
  
New data down load complete.  
  
Analyze.  
  
Name: Jack Anderson a.k.a. Hunter  
  
Age: 30  
  
Height: 6' 1"  
  
Hair: Naturally black, died blonde.  
  
Eyes: Blue.  
  
Official occupation: Anti-hacker agent, FBI  
  
Real occupation: Hacker and trafficker in boot-leg software.  
  
Current residence: Irrelevant  
  
Parents: James and Marie Anderson (deceased)  
  
Siblings: Jennie Anderson (deceased)  
  
Thomas Anderson (unplugged)  
  
.  
  
Confirm last.  
  
Siblings: Jennie Anderson (deceased)  
  
Thomas Anderson (unplugged)  
  
Known a.k.a. of last.  
  
Jennie Anderson no known a.k.a.  
  
Thomas Anderson a.k.a. Neo a.k.a. The One.  
  
Continue Analysis. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
"We're dead."  
  
"No we're not."  
  
Trinity and Splinter were running up a long set of stairs with three agents and a lot of police backup close on their heels.  
  
"We ain't gonna make it outta 'is one," Splinter insisted.  
  
"Yes we will," came Trinity's deadpanned reply.  
  
"Anyone ever tell ya you're a hopeless optimist?"  
  
"No. Anyone ever tell you that you need to lighten up a bit. Life isn't all doom and gloom you know."  
  
"It sure ain't a flippin' bed o' roses."  
  
They never even broke stride as they both charged up the stairs in a desperate dash for freedom. It wasn't that they thought they could outrun the Agents forever or anything. They were just hoping to get to a hard line that was still intact before the Agents finally caught up with them.  
  
Right about then, as they reached the top of the first stairway and rounded the corner, at the end of the hall, they saw an Agent with his gun up and ready to shoot. They both just barely ducked out of the way before the first bullet slammed into the wall behind where they had been standing.  
  
"This ain't good," Splinter moaned.  
  
"Will you shut up!" Trinity snared at him.  
  
"I say again, darlin' we're dead."  
  
Trinity was about to reply when they heard the Agents gun begin barking again, but it sounded like the bullets were flying the opposite direction. Even more strange, the bullets didn't seem to be hitting anything. The gun stopped firing, and a few seconds later, they heard the Agents scream, and what sounded like a digitized, muffled explosion.  
  
Then, for a few seconds, there was silence.  
  
"Are you two coming, or are you planning to wait around for the rest of the Agents to show up?"  
  
It was Neo. They both ran around the corner and there he was. black trench coat, wrap-around sunglasses and all. The Agent, of course, was nowhere to be seen. All three turned and continued running up the stairs.  
  
They reached the top without further incident. When they reached the top, they were greeted by group of 10 policemen, in a semicircle, with guns at the ready.  
  
"Freeze!!"  
  
Naturally, they had no inclination to do so.  
  
Splinter went for the three on the left, Trinity for the three on the right, and Neo went right up the middle.  
  
Trinity hit the guy in the middle feet first, and then snapped up to a standing position with arms straight out and clothes-lined the two others on either side.  
  
Splinter jumped forward and slid feet first at his first opponent, on his left. He kicked up with his left foot into his opponent's chest, sending him flying toward the edge of the building. At the same time, he kicked the next guy down with his right foot, caught his gun, and shot the last one with it, just as he was beginning to morph into an Agent.  
  
Neo simply ran right at the last four, taking the back two down with running punches to the throat and dodging the bullets the other two, so they ended up shooting each other.  
  
Neo didn't even break stride as he ran toward the edge of the building, with Trinity and Splinter in close pursuit. When all three jumped, Neo jumped higher, so that, even though he jumped first, he landed almost a full second after Trinity and Splinter. As they soared over the gap, Neo turned in midair and shot the three policemen that coming running out the door they had just gone through. When they landed, they ran to the other edge, where Trinity, then Splinter dropped onto the fire escape and climbed quickly down. Neo planned to wait until they got to the bottom, then drop down and let the gravity that only existed in his mind get him to the bottom a lot quicker than climbing would have done. When they were halfway down, three Agents on the other building came out the door and started firing at him. He just held up a hand, and every bullet they fired stopped almost three meters in front of him, then dropped to the roof top.  
  
He turned, planning to follow Trinity and Splinter. And ran into the last thing he ever expected.  
  
I just want any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans to know that, no; there is no connection between the Splinter in this story and the Turtles rat- like leader. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
It had been couple of years since he had seen his brother. He couldn't remember how many, but it had been a while. He still had the same blue eyes, the same black rooted bleached hair. Even still the same height. But as Neo looked at his code, he could tell instantly that this was not the brother he had known. And the next statement synched it.  
  
"Hello, Mr. Anderson."  
  
No one called him Mr. Anderson. Except Agents. "These machines can be really cruel sometimes" Neo thought. "They make an Agent that looks like my brother. What next? Female Agents who look like Jennie?" Those thoughts shot through his mind in the time it took him to have his gun out and pointed directly in-between this new Agent's eyes. But two things stopped him from pulling the trigger. The first was, when he looked closer, he saw something in the code that didn't match up with any Agent code he had ever seen before. And the second was that this individual wasn't armed. Or at least, he didn't have a gun out.  
  
"What do you want," Neo asked.  
  
"To be allowed to speak."  
  
"Shoot," Neo said.  
  
"Pun intended?"  
  
"I thought you had something to say."  
  
"I have standing orders to kill you by any means possible."  
  
Neo waited. "Is that it?"  
  
"I'm not sure if following those orders is wise or not."  
  
"It's not," Neo replied. "Ask any of your fellow Agents who have fought me. If they have the ability to speak." Neo half-grinned at this, as if enjoying a private joke.  
  
"Who said I'm an Agent?" asked the program in front of him.  
  
This gave Neo a moments pause. "Well, if you're not an Agent, then what are you?" he asked.  
  
"I am Hunter," the program replied  
  
Now Neo was starting to get really ticked off. "You steal my brother's appearance and you use his hacker name like you owned it. I should kill you just for that."  
  
"You are mistaken, Tommy. I do own this appearance and this name."  
  
Neo's blood was boiling so hot that he actually missed that the program had just called him Tommy. Just like his brother used to. "So since he was still hooked up to the Matrix when he died you think you own him and everything he was?"  
  
"No. I own him because I am him."  
  
Time screeched to a halt. Neo was staggered by the implications in what this program had just said. He couldn't believe it. AI hadn't just made a program that looked like his brother. Oh no, it looked like they had made a program that was his brother, and turned it loose on him. Yes, the machines were cruel indeed.  
  
"You look pale Mr. Anderson. Perhaps you should go back to your little "Real" world and lie down." The program had exactly the same mocking tone as Jack had whenever he and Neo were having a fight, and he had the upper hand. And he could just hear the quotation marks around "Real".  
  
"Not until I've killed you," Neo said, with all the warmth of glacier runoff.  
  
He swung a hard right, aimed directly at his opponent's larynx. But, as he swung, something very odd happened. Before his eyes, the program before him seemed to disperse. By the time he would have connected, there was nothing there anymore. He spun, looking for where his opponent had gone, but he was nowhere nearby. He noticed that Splinter and Trinity had reached the bottom of the fire escape, and they were looking up anxiously to see if he was coming. He also became aware that the agents had stopped firing while he and the program had been standing on the roofs edge, but they had now started again. Instead of wasting time stopping or even dodging the bullets, he simply stepped over the edge and accelerated his fall with a thought. He fell for a few seconds of eternity, contemplating what that program had told him. It haunted him the whole way down. However, once he hit the ground, cracking the cement under his feet, his thoughts turned immediately back to getting the three of them out. Trinity had already called for the exit, and it was set to go, just a few blocks down. The area was deserted, and they got to the phone and got out, with a strange amount of ease.  
  
When he woke up on the Nebuchadnezzar and they pulled the plug out of the back of his head, Neo found that he was exhausted. Trinity and Splinter kept asking him things about what had happened up there, and who that guy had been, where he had come from, and something about why he had suddenly vanished, but Neo didn't even hear all the questions, because about the time Trinity said, "Neo, are you alright?" he passed out. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Neo woke in his cabin and found that he was looking at Trinity's concerned face. She was sitting on his bunk, looking into his eyes, clearly hoping to see what it was that had troubled him so deeply. But his eyes only told her that he was hurting inside. A lot.  
  
"Neo," Trinity said, concern flowing freely through her voice. "What happened?"  
  
"I met a dead man," he replied.  
  
"What?"  
  
"My brother. He died a few years before I was unplugged. At least that's what I thought."  
  
"Neo, what are you talking about?"  
  
"The guy on the roof with me. I think the Agents took my brothers mind and put it into some program. The code wasn't like anything I've seen in the Matrix before."  
  
"Neo, what are you talking about? It wasn't an Agent you were fighting? Splinter and I thought you must have found a quicker way of deleting Agents."  
  
"No," Neo said. "He just..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was like either he or someone else was... well, disassembling and scattered his code. I can't think of any other way to describe it." Neo was clearly frustrated by his inability to describe, much less understand what he had seen.  
  
"Well, if his code was pulled apart, you shouldn't need to worry about him anymore."  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure." Neo said.  
  
Trinity was about to reply, when the door opened, and the stubbly brown haired head of Splinter poked in.  
  
"Doggone it Splinter, knock when you come in!" Neo snapped in frustration.  
  
"What, did I in'errup' some'm?" he asked playfully. Then in a more serious tone, he said, "Neo, Morphious wan'ed ya ta come up ta tha bridge ta look at some'm."  
  
"What?" Neo asked.  
  
"Dunno," Splinter replied with a shrug. "Morpheus didn't say. I 'as workin' on a trainin' sim an' he told me ta get ya up ta tha bridge. I think he wan'ed ya ta take a look a' some code in tha Matrix."  
  
"I'd better get moving. Thanks for the pep talk Trin. I needed it."  
  
And then, with a quick kiss, he was out the door and up the ladder to the main deck.  
  
"Some guy's get all the luck," Splinter complained. "And the girls."  
  
"Shut up Splinter," Trinity said, trying her best to sound irritated.  
  
Splinter snapped into a mock salute. "Ma'am yes ma'am."  
  
"I told you to shut up." The irritation came easier this time. She brushed past him and headed up the ladder to follow Neo. Splinter just grinned, and followed them both up. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
When Neo got to the bridge, he found Morpheus staring at a screen that had the very familiar green lines of code raining down it: the Matrix. Morpheus noticed him and said "Neo, take a look at this. I can't make anything out of it."  
  
Neo took a closer look. Nothing really out of the ordinary, he thought. Just normal people going about their lives with the standard assortment of agents scattered among... wait. There. Area caught his attention. He had never seen it before on a screen, but he had seen it before.  
  
"Hunter."  
  
"What?" Morpheus said, clearly confused.  
  
Neo hadn't realized that he had said the last word out loud.  
  
"Hunter," Neo repeated. "He was my brother. Well, in the Matrix anyway. He went by the hacker alias Hunter."  
  
"And that line of code is him?" Morpheus asked.  
  
"Well, part of him, anyway. I think someone higher up in the machines higherarchy decided that Agents weren't cutting it anymore. They needed something better. Maybe something that could think like a human and have the resources of an Agent."  
  
"Tha best o' both worlds," Splinter drawled out behind them. "Or tha worst, depend'n on how ya look at it."  
  
"Yes," Neo replied, noting that Splinter and Trinity had somehow gotten on the main deck and been there for some time without being noticed by either Neo or Morpheus. They were both absorbed in what they were looking at.  
  
"Is that what you were talking about Neo?" Trinity asked Neo.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are you planning to do what I think you're going to do?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are we going to be able to stop you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Neo, you're starting to speak in single syllables."  
  
"Yes."  
  
Splinter looked like he was about to make some wise-guy comment, but a quick glare from Trinity changed his mind. So instead he said, "You going in alone, or you want me to go find Tank and Laser."  
  
"You can get Tank, because we need an operator, and if Laser's with him, bring her along for the ride. I want to go in alone, but I'm betting Trinity won't let me."  
  
"Got that right," was the predicted reply.  
  
"OK, this 'Hunter' is close enough to a hard line that we should be able to get to him and get out quickly enough."  
  
"And if it's trap?" asked Trinity.  
  
"Then I get to take my anger out on whatever programs they send at us instead of my former brother."  
  
"Alright, what's the story?" said Tank as he climbed up the ladder to the main deck with Splinter at his heels. "What was so important that you had to pull me away from my wonderful meal of vitamin snot?"  
  
"Neo is going in, and he wanted you for the operator, because he is taking Trinity and I with him." Morpheus answered him.  
  
"What?" Neo asked. "You want to come too?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ah, don't you start," Splinter groaned, earning a smack on the side of the head from Trinity and a confused look from Tank.  
  
"He can explain once we're in the Matrix," Neo said. "We need to get going. We're wasting time."  
  
So it was that a minute and a quick stop in the construct later, they were in the Matrix, looking for the program that had called itself Hunter. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Trinity was worried. She had never seen Neo like this before. He wasn't walking through the streets of the Matrix so much as stalking. He was mad.  
  
Trinity was packing four handguns she had grabbed randomly off the racks in the construct, two in side holsters and two in hip holsters. Morpheus had two sawed off shotguns hidden in the folds of his trench coat, and a pair of matched handguns strapped to his legs. Neo only had one handgun in a side holster. But then, being the One, he wasn't likely to even need that.  
  
Neo was leading them, but how he knew where he was going was beyond both Trinity and Morpheus. They turned into an alley and faced a dead end. Trinity and Morpheus stopped for a second, but Neo walked right in. So they followed him.  
  
"Hey, Tommy."  
  
Whatever was leading Neo, apparently it had gotten him where he wanted to go. Hunter was right behind them.  
  
As they spun, Morpheus swung up one of his two shotguns and Trinity drew two handguns. Both trained their weapons on Hunter. Neo just faced him.  
  
"Is this how you great everyone that wants to help you?" Hunter asked.  
  
No one moved.  
  
"Listen, I understand the silent treatment, but I really think we should get going. I don't think the Agents are that far behind me."  
  
"What Agents?" Neo asked.  
  
"The Agents who have plans for my complete and total removal from the Matrix by any means possible are probably not far." Hunter's voice trailed of and he turned, pulled out a very unique handgun, and in three rapid shots, hit three people passing on the street who were beginning to morph into Agents.  
  
"Well, you know, I'd love to stick around for a quick round of twenty questions, but right now, I think we have more to worry about from the Agents," Hunter said, rather tensely.  
  
"There's no 'we' here until you can tell us a few things," Trinity said, in a very firm voice.  
  
"You know what, right now you guys have two choices," Hunter said, with a tone of irritation. "You can either stand around here talking about if me stopping three Agents is reason enough to earn me at least a temporary truce so we can get back to your ship and talk safely, or do you want to wait here for those Agents to find less convenient, but no less deadly hosts?"  
  
They stood there for a moment, Trinity and Morpheus' guns trained on Hunter. Finally, Neo broke the silence.  
  
"You think you can use an exit to get out of here."  
  
"I was designed to be able to," Hunter replied. "Though, obviously I've never tried."  
  
Neo pulled out his cell phone. "Tank, we need an exit."  
  
Trinity looked like she was about to object, but Morpheus caught her eye and shook his head. The three guns disappeared back where they had come from as Tank replied.  
  
"There's an exit about a block from you, at 4th and Eire. You're going to want to hurry. There are a couple of Agents coming in fast."  
  
"Let's go," Morpheus said, and they took off toward the phone.  
  
They got to the phone with no incident, and they found out why immediately. The Agents had gotten hosts ahead of them and were waiting at the phone. They had cut the line, and had guns at the ready. Hunter and Neo pulled out their guns and started shooting. The Agents just dodged the bullets, but it did give Trinity and Morpheus enough time to jump back. Morpheus pulled out his phone and called Tank.  
  
"We need another exit Tank."  
  
"Got one at 1st and Balben."  
  
"Neo lets go," Trinity shouted.  
  
Neo had just run out of bullets and immediately hurled his gun at the Agents. Hunter, strangely, was still shooting.  
  
"Let's go Hunter!" Neo shouted.  
  
Neo jumped back behind the building, and Hunter was right behind him.  
  
"Got another exit?" Neo asked.  
  
"Yes," Morpheus replied. "Follow me."  
  
They sprinted to the phone, but yet again, they found Agents in front of them. This time, however, the Agents had only arrived seconds before and hadn't gotten the hard line yet. Still, there were three agents, and only Neo could fight them well.  
  
"Stay back," Neo said, and then launched himself straight at the Agents. They didn't move but tried to hit him as he came in. It was hard to see what happened next, but it almost looked like Neo slammed his fists into the two agents on the side, and simply slammed them into the one in the middle. It was impossible to see what happened next, because there was a blinding flash of light and an explosion. When the light cleared, Neo was just barely standing, and the Agents were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Trinity rushed up to him and caught him as he started to collapse.  
  
Neo leaned on her for a second, then seemed to shake off any weariness he had felt and said, "Come on, we need to get going."  
  
No one wasted time asking what he had just done or if he was okay, they just hurried toward the exit. 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
They got into the building, and found the phone line was still intact. As they walked in, it started ringing.  
  
"You first Morpheus," Neo said.  
  
Instead of wasting time by arguing, Morpheus picked up the phone and placed the earpiece to his ear, and vanished from the Matrix.  
  
Trinity hung up the phone, and it quickly began to ring again.  
  
"You're next Trinity."  
  
She looked more inclined to argue than Morpheus, but the look she saw in Neo's eyes brooked no argument. She picked up the phone and vanished. Neo hung up the phone. He then turned to Hunter.  
  
"What makes you so sure that you can get out of the Matrix this way?" Neo asked.  
  
The phone started to ring.  
  
"The Agents programmed me so I could do what I'm doing now, with the idea that a bug would be inserted into my code, enabling them to trace your ship."  
  
"How do you know you don't have a bug?"  
  
"I don't know," Hunter replied. "I doubt it; they would have had to insert it by means more subtle than I think Agents are capable of. Still, from what I understand, you should be able to scan me and figure out if I have a bug in me.  
  
"I already have," Neo said.  
  
The phone continued ringing.  
  
"And?" Hunter asked.  
  
"If there's a bug in you, it's so well integrated that there isn't any way to get it out anyway."  
  
"Good to hear," Hunter said.  
  
"Last question, before we get out of here," Neo said. "Where are you going to go when you get out of the Matrix? You don't have a body anywhere that you'll be returning to, do you?"  
  
"No, I am completely a computer program."  
  
"So how are you going to get out?"  
  
"Just have the construct running when I put this phone to my ear. I'll end up there."  
  
The phone rang twice more, as Neo considered this. Then he pulled out his cell phone.  
  
"You catch that Tank?"  
  
"Not for sure," Tank replied over the phone. "Sounded like you'll be wanting me to have the construct running when you guys get out. Or something along those lines anyway."  
  
"Right."  
  
"How about I put both of you there?"  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
He hung up his cell phone, and picked up the still ringing phones receiver, and handed it to Hunter.  
  
"I'll be right behind you," Neo said.  
  
Hunter put the phone to his ear and vanished exactly like anyone else would.  
  
Neo picked up the receiver and put it back on the hook. It began to ring; he picked it up. As he put it to his ear, the three Agents that had been chasing them burst in. But by the time they fired, their shots hit nothing but empty air.  
  
"They got out," one of them snarled. One with features Neo would have found shockingly familiar, had he gotten a better look. 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
He was standing in what looked like an endless white room. Only it was hard to tell where the walls were, if there were any at all. It seemed to just go on and on and on. There was nothing else anywhere near him. He turned around a few times to make sure. There was also no sound. It was like he had been transported into the science fiction world of Limbo.  
  
"Welcome to the construct, Hunter."  
  
Hunter whirled around. There, standing directly behind him, was Neo, looking for all the world as if he had been there the whole time.  
  
"Very smooth," Hunter said.  
  
"What?" Neo asked.  
  
"The whole, 'appear right behind me to intimidate me' or whatever it was you just did."  
  
"Actually, it wasn't intentionally, but OK," Neo replied with a shrug.  
  
"So this is the construct, huh?" Hunter asked.  
  
"What were you expecting?"  
  
"Not this."  
  
He looked around for a few more moments before returning his attention to the only place that wasn't solid white.  
  
"So, what do you want to know?" Hunter asked Neo.  
  
"Any number of things. Not the least of which is why you look so much like my brother."  
  
"Well then," Hunter said, "we can start right there. The reason I look so much like your brother is that, for all intents and purposes, I am your brother."  
  
"How's that possible?"  
  
"AI decided that in order to defeat you, a human was needed. Or at least a program that could think like a human. AI believed that the reason you could alter the Matrix at will had something to do with the fact that you don't have organized, precise thought patterns. Human thought is much more abstract and random than that of any that AI has come up with thus far. The theory behind my creation was that if an Agent had human thoughts inserted into their programming, then they would be able to do what you do. My mind was chosen as the pattern because they wanted as close a match to your mind as they could get. It was also believed that your brother's appearance would keep you from being able to kill me. Guess they got the wrong idea about that."  
  
"Defiantly," Neo replied.  
  
"The critical mistake was that the transfer was almost an exact copy of thought patterns. This led to all old loyalties being preserved. So despite the fact that they inserted lines of code that were supposed to make me subservient to Agents, they were overwhelmed by they other thought processes by the time I was taken out for my first 'trial run' yesterday when you met me."  
  
"By the way, what was the little disappearing act you did yesterday?"  
  
"New transportation protocols. I'm a completely independent program, so I don't require a 'host' within the Matrix, like Agents do. The process basically involves me dispersing my code, moving it through the various other lines of code in the environment, and reassembling it when it all reaches my destination."  
  
"Can you just stay in the code?"  
  
"Yes, for a given amount of time."  
  
"How long is that?"  
  
"It depends. It's not a definite process. It the amount of time involves the amount of risk. The longer I stay dispersed, the higher the risk that some of my code won't be retrievable. The longest I've ever gone is about 20 seconds."  
  
Neo seemed to think for a moment.  
  
"You think you can survive a shutdown here?"  
  
"Probably," Hunter replied. "AI had no way of testing it, but it was assumed that I could return just fine from that."  
  
"Good, because we don't want to have to insert you back into the Matrix every time we power down. Now, let's see what you can do."  
  
Hunter wasn't sure what Neo was talking about. But he didn't have to wonder long.  
  
Looking up, Neo said, "Tank, load the sparring chamber." 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Hunter wasn't sure what to expect after that statement. He also wasn't sure who this "Tank" was. Neo had talked to him twice now, but Hunter had yet to have even a vague idea who Tank was. He didn't have much time to wonder, though, because huge white nothingness around him Neo had called the construct was fading into what looked like an old martial arts training room. It had wood floor and pillars, and windows that let nothing in or out but light.  
  
"What's going on?" Hunter asked.  
  
"We're seeing how good you are," a female voice said behind him.  
  
He turned, not at all surprised to see Trinity standing behind him. "So what, now I have to beat you two?"  
  
"No," replied a deep baratone voice to his left. "You only have to fight one of us."  
  
Hunter turned again to find Morpheus standing there.  
  
"And, since you were designed to fight me," Neo said, drawing all eyes to him. "You'll get to spar with me."  
  
Hunter groaned. "It's my lucky day."  
  
He looked at Trinity, then Morpheus. "Why you here?"  
  
"We're here ta be en'ertained."  
  
Splinter was standing almost directly across from Morpheus.  
  
"Are you trying to intimidate me or something?" Hunter asked.  
  
"Nah, jus' frustrate ya," Splinter grinned.  
  
"It's working."  
  
Splinters grin got even wider. "Good."  
  
"Well, let the slaughter begin," Hunter said in a rather resigned voice.  
  
He turned and bowed to Neo. Neo returned the gesture.  
  
"Now hit me," Neo told Hunter. "If you can." He said this with a quick glance at Morpheus, and they both grinned slightly, obviously enjoying an inside joke.  
  
Hunter came at Neo so fast that Splinter, who happened to be blinking at the time, missed it. To Neo, however, Hunter might as well have come walking up, told him where he was going to hit, and then swung in slow motion. Hunter started out with a fast right hook, aimed at Neo's jaw. Neo simply raised his left hand and pushed the blow in front of him. Hunter followed with a hard jab with his left at Neo's chest. Neo just threw it past with his right. Hunter swung an uppercut at Neo's jaw. Neo simply did a back-flip and set a kick into Hunters jaw that sent him sailing in a similar arc in the opposite direction. Neo landed first, on his feet. Hunter landed a moment later, on his back. Hard. To his credit, he didn't stay down, but used his arms and legs to spin around and try to kick Neo's legs out from under him. Neo hopped over his kick, almost like it was a jump-rope, and swung a kick at Hunters head. To his credit, Hunter managed to dodge it fairly gracefully, and brought himself to his feet simply by slamming his left hand into the floor, causing him to go flying in a horizontal spinning circle away from Neo. As he landed, Neo came in firing a three strike series. The first, a right punch aimed at Hunter's head, he dodged. The second, a left punch aimed at his lower torso, he deflected to his right. The last was an open handed slam to Hunters chest that sent him flying into one of the nearest pillars.  
  
As he hopped up, Splinter said "Ahh, common Neo, cut da kid some slack!"  
  
"What do you think those first two punches were?"  
  
The conversation distracted Neo just enough that when Hunter ran up, jumped in the air, and delivered three snap kicks right, left, right, Neo had to take a step back from each one, blocking as he went. And so the fight continued, with Hunter slowly getting better. He couldn't land anything on Neo, but he got closer than any Agent ever had, and he was able to dodge more of Neo's hits, and actually managed to block a few that were meant to be serious. Finally, in desperation, Hunter tried something that actually gave him a few second, and he managed to land a punch on Neo.  
  
He saw his chance when Neo was swinging a karate chop at his neck. He dispersed his code, and reassembled it right behind Neo. He managed to get one good strong kick at Neo's back, which sent him flying into a pillar. Hunter dropped his guard, and was about to walk over nonchalantly and help Neo up. He didn't get the chance. Neo flipped up, and took four steps. The first two covered the 2 meters between them. The next one was on Hunters knees, and the fourth on his mid torso. Neo then slammed his other foot into the side of Hunters head. Hunter flipped sideways through the air twice before landed in a heap.  
  
He woke up a few moments later. He found himself on his back and the other four staring at him from above.  
  
Neo spoke first. "You OK?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Good. You want to go again?" Neo asked, with a grin.  
  
'No thanks, I've had my head handed to me enough for one day. Which reminds me, could you find me some thread so I can sew it back on?"  
  
Neo smiled, and waved his hand like a magician doing a trick. A spool of thread appeared between his thumb and forefinger.  
  
"Here you go," he said, dropping it on Hunters chest.  
  
"Ho, ho, ho," Hunter said, wincing on the last "ho".  
  
As if on cue, a phone seemed to materialize on the wall, and start ringing.  
  
Morpheus walked over and picked it up, as Neo and Trinity gave Hunter a hand up, and Splinter made a big show of dusted him off.  
  
Morpheus listened for a moment then said. "Right Tank, get us out."  
  
He then turned to the other four, who were looking at him curiously. "We've got trouble." 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
"What's going on?" Hunter asked.  
  
"We just got word from the Belshazzar, another ship in the area," Morpheus replied. "She detected a squiddy coming at us real fast."  
  
"Squiddy?"  
  
"Likely ya'd call it a Sent'n'l ," Splinter drawled.  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
"So we have to get out of here and shut down," Neo said. "Think you can survive that?"  
  
"After surviving what you just gave me? Do you need to ask?"  
  
When Neo looked like he might, Hunter added, "Just save the program and bring it back up without resetting. I'll be fine."  
  
Neo nodded.  
  
"Hey, before I forget, that sentinel most likely knows you're here. AI has a way to trace where any ship is that is hacking into the Matrix for more than 15 min."  
  
Neo nodded again. "Thanks"  
  
A few moments latter, Hunter was standing alone in the construct. As it began to fade away, he muttered "I sure hope I didn't lie about surviving just now."  
  
And then he faded with the rest of the program.  
  
Meanwhile, in the real world...  
  
"Where should we set her down sir?" Tank asked Morpheus.  
  
"Let's set down in this open area up ahead," he replied after a moment's consideration. "We don't want to be in this tunnel in case that Sentinel decides to use it."  
  
They landed and started the shutdown process.  
  
"What if it's already locked on to us?" Trinity asked.  
  
"Tha's what tha EMP's fer, darlin'," Splinter replied, his hand already hovering over the trigger.  
  
Trinity was about to retort when Morpheus motioned for everyone to be quiet and look the window.  
  
"I think it knows we're here." Trinity observed.  
  
The silver squirmy squid like sentinel was coming straight at them. And it already had its cutting tools out and laser glowing.  
  
"Yep," they heard Laser say. She had just gotten to the bridge.  
  
Very theatrically, Splinter stepped aside and asked, "Would ya like ta do tha honors, darlin'."  
  
"Delighted, my good man," came Lasers reply.  
  
Morpheous glanced back and said "Just fire it before that thing gets any closer."  
  
"Oh, fine you Philistine." Laser said, as she turned the trigger. And a few moments later, the Squiddy fell, completely inert, 5 meters in front of the Nebuchadnezzar. And everyone but Splinter and Laser breathed a sigh of relief. They just went back to their theatrical antics. Much to everyone else's annoyance.  
  
"Good shot, mi'lady," Splinter said.  
  
"I thank you, kind sir."  
  
"Are you two done?" Morpheous asked.  
  
They looked at each other for a moment. "Is that an order or a question?" Laser asked.  
  
"Hopefully an order," Trinity said.  
  
"Yes," Neo agreed.  
  
"She cracks tha whip an' ya jump, 's that it?"  
  
"It was a suggestion," Morpheous replied, quickly trying to head off any confrontation. "And if you don't decide to follow it, I'll see you in the sparing program once Tank brings the system back up."  
  
"Which I'm doing right now, so you better make up your mind quick."  
  
"Alright, you Philistines, have it your way." Laser seemed on the verge of sticking out her tongue, but didn't quite get there.  
  
Everyone was quiet for a minute. Then the lights came up Tank broke the silence.  
  
"I've got everything back up and running."  
  
"Good," Neo said. "Let's see if the newest member of our crew is still with us."  
  
Hunter was back in the white room. He couldn't help but think that he should have been aware of more of a time difference, but for all he knew, the system could have been shut down for years, or just seconds. He stood and waited. And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
He wasn't quite sure what he was waiting for. But still, he waited.  
  
He turned around a few times and the third time he found a telephone and a stand had appeared behind him. He couldn't decide if it was more annoying or interesting that everything that could appear behind him seemed to do so. He had no doubt that the rooms would appear behind him if they could.  
  
The phone started ringing. Just to entertain anyone who was watching, he made a big show about looking around for anyone else who might be there to pick up the phone. Then, he picked it up.  
  
"Hello, this is Nowhere, Hunter speaking."  
  
"Very funny." He heard two voices that sounded like Splinter and a female voice in the background, chuckling.  
  
"Apparently someone thinks it is."  
  
"You're even worse than I remember."  
  
"That's because you're losing your memory in your old age."  
  
"Watch it kid, your only about 2 years younger than me."  
  
"Whatever you say old man." This time he heard more than two voices chuckling in the background. 


	11. Chapter 10

S'up Y'all? Did ya miss me? Or notice I was gone? Sorry this took so long to update, but for some reason I hit a wall whenever I tried to write this. But, I will now continue the story. I hope. Also, to Misty7, I totally agree with you about the "being better than Neo" thing in a lot of stories. I do not plan to have Hunter become better than Neo. And no, I hadn't seen the trailers for the sequels up to this point, but I have now seen both those and The Matrix Reloaded. I will give him "a little more credit" in upcoming chapters (if I can write them in between everything else I have to do. AHHHHHHH. College life is a bit hectic.)  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"Don't look now guys," Tank said," but it looks like Laser has a fellow actor on board."  
  
"Oh goody! Now we can do Romeo and Juliet."  
  
"God forbid," Tank replied  
  
"Ya can en'ertain yer self yer way, we'll do it our way."  
  
Neo and Trinity had been talking in hushed voices off to the side. Now Neo headed over and spoke to Tank in a hushed voice.  
  
"Tank, can I get some time to talk to Hunter."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"In private."  
  
Tank gave him a slightly quizzical look, then understanding dawned on him and he nodded, reached over and switched off the observation monitors.  
  
"Thanks, Tank."  
  
"No problem."  
  
He headed over to one of the "dentist" chairs, as Laser had once dubbed them. Trinity came over and plugged him in. It was strange. This was something he had been doing for almost two months now, and it still felt strange to have a long metal needle slid into the back of his head. He supposed that it was something he would get used to eventually. He would have to remember to ask Trinity about it sometime.  
  
However, he had become completely comfortable with the idea of closing his eyes and finding himself standing in the Construct.  
  
And standing before him was Hunter. Naturally, Hunters back was to him, and he was still holding the phone to his ear. The strange thing was, he was talking into it. It seemed that Laser had gotten Tank to let her on the headset and the first thing Neo heard was Hunter saying "... phone number, can I have yours?"  
  
"No, you can't," Neo said. "We don't let her have a phone in her room."  
  
Hunter didn't jump much. He just flinched a bit, and then turned around with a pursed lipped grin and the phone still to his ear. "You know, I'm really starting to think that the 'appear behind me' thing is intentional."  
  
Neo half grinned. "Believe what you like. You know, you always did go for the cheesy lines."  
  
Hunter cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? The 'I lost my phone number' line is a classic!"  
  
"No, it's a cliché." Then he cleared his throat and looked up. "Tank, when I asked you to turn off the monitors, I meant that you should keep them off until I called you. And Trin? Could you please hold him to that?"  
  
He continued to stare up for a minute, and then looked back to Hunter, who had just hung up the phone.  
  
"What was that about?"  
  
"I wanted to talk to you without any of the others watching."  
  
Hunter looked around. "Well, I don't see anyone."  
  
"No, they were watching from the real world. Not here."  
  
"Gotcha," he said with a grin that said that he had known that all along, and had just been making a joke.  
  
"I wanted to be able to talk to you like we used to."  
  
"Swearing every other word?"  
  
"Like brothers."  
  
"Like I said..."  
  
Neo sighed.  
  
"Alright, alright," Hunter said. "What do you want to talk about?"  
  
"Where you've been and what you've been doing would be a good place to start."  
  
"Well, I've only been around for a few days, so not much."  
  
"You know what I mean."  
  
"What does it matter Tom?" Hunter asked, letting some frustration show. "It never really happened. None of it! It was all in my head, and the heads of a few billion other people. Why does it matter?!"  
  
"It matters, Jack," was Neo's simple response.  
  
Hunter stood still for a while, considering.  
  
Finally, he shrugged. "Well, since the last time we talked a few years ago, I got kicked out of the FBI."  
  
"Any reason?"  
  
Hunter grinned. "My supervisor got tired of me coming into work late."  
  
Neo grinned too. "It must run in the family."  
  
Hunter gave a scoff/chuckle and nodded.  
  
"After that, I went hard core into my 'second life' as the agent who eventually busted me put it."  
  
"An Agent?"  
  
"Of the FBI, not of the Matrix. An old co-worker actually," his grin froze a bit. "I taught her everything she knew."  
  
He seemed to shake something out of his mind, and continued.  
  
"Anyway, it took her about two years to catch up with me. In that time, I started finding references at various places in the Net to a place called the Matrix. You know how that was."  
  
Neo nodded, listening.  
  
"Well, every time I thought I had it figured out, something else would show up that would blow my theory to pieces. I think I looked at every site that came up on any engine for the word 'Matrix'. I started to notice that in a lot of situations, some hacker name would come up. Tri-ni-tee, Cypher, Modem, Codex, and the like. But the one I noticed most was Morpheous. I looked other places and found that he was some sort of cyberspace terrorist."  
  
Neo was surprised how much this sounded like things he himself had done when he was still plugged-in.  
  
"I figured that he was actually just a really good hacker that somebody really wanted to get, so I started trying to contact him. I would look around on forums for the name, even tried a few chat rooms where I knew that hackers hang out. I found a few that had people with 'Morpheous' as an alias. They all said that they were using the name in admiration the real one. I also found a lot of forums discussing "The Matrix". Thing was, it was just a bunch of people seeing if anyone else knew where it was. No one did."  
  
Hunter sighed, seeming weary from taking about his life.  
  
"Eventually, Erica caught up with me."  
  
"Erica?" Neo interrupted.  
  
"The agent who caught me."  
  
Neo nodded.  
  
"Anyway, she caught me and was ready to bring me in. I'm not sure what happened, but at some point along the way the Agents. big A. tracked me down. Erica was trying to take me in, and for some reason, the Agents didn't have proper authorization or even ID's. Naturally, a federal agent, and especially not Erica, wasn't going to let someone who didn't have authorization take charge of a prisoner." Here, Hunters voice seemed to start catching. "When she wouldn't turn me over to them, they used," here his voice defiantly caught, "extreme methods to get to me."  
  
He paused, closed his eyes, swallowed and continued.  
  
"The last thing I remember seeing was Erica falling to the ground with a bullet hole through her head. The last thing I remember hearing was the Agent saying "Goodbye, Mr. Anderson." 


End file.
